Hiking in Emigrant Wilderness

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The Emigrant Wilderness is usually reached from highway 108, about 4 hours east of the San Francisco Bay Area, about one hour west of Mono Lake.
  • The highest peak is Leavitt Peak (3526 m). It can be reached via the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) from Sonora Pass. Take the PCT going south. When you reach the Emigrant Wilderness sign, you already see Leavitt Peak. Leavitt Peak has two summits joined by a saddle. Keep walking and the trail goes to the left of a prominent peak and then to the right to a pass. On the other side of the pass, when you see all the lakes, look for a use-trail to the right. As of 2023, it is actually well maintained and goes all the way to the top of Leavitt. This eastern summit is a vast plateau and you will see a pile of stones with a register inside.
    • Sonora Pass
    • Wilderness sign 1h 20'
    • Pass 2h
    • Top 3h 15'

    If you shuttle cars, you can make a one-way hike from Sonora Pass to Leavitt Peak. Descend Leavitt Peak's eastern summit to the PCT and walk south. Look for a use-trail on your left (east) that heads down to Leavitt Lake. This lake is reached by forest service road 32077 (aka Leavitt Lake Rd). Walk back to 108 in 5kms. This forest service road is not easy to find: there is an unmarked parking on the south side of a switchback before a creek 6 kms (or 3.8 miles) east of Sonora Pass. (Technicalities: Leavitt Lake lies in the Hoover Wilderness and Leavitt Lake Road lies in the Humboldt-Toiyabe national forest).

  • Sonora Peak (3491 m) can be reached via the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) from Sonora Pass. Go north on the PCT for 6 kms to the (unnamed) pass and then follow the ridge to the left (west). Sonora Peak can also be reached via a longer route (about 10 kms) from the St Mary's Pass trailhead which is located on highway 108 about 1km west of Sonora Pass (not easy to see). This latter trailhead has a tiny parking area but there is better parking on the other side of the road nearby. Walk north on the St Mary's Pass trail. When it dead ends (at the border with the Carson Iceberg Wilderness), scramble east (right) to the top of Sonora Peak, following the faintly marked use-trail. The summit is approximately at N38.35399/W119.63457
  • Granite Dome (3145 m), a rarely visited peak, is best reached from Kennedy Meadows, a resort and trailhead located east of Dardanelle on highway 108. There is a sign on 108 for Kennedy Meadows. Enter that road and you'll pass two campgrounds: the large Baker campground and the tiny Deadman campground. You need to drive to the end of the road, about 4 kms. You'll reach the resort village and continue until the end of the village, to a gate. That's your trailhead (parking is allowed for day hikes as of 2024). The camping sites for hikers are actually at the beginning of the road, across from Deadman Camp. From Kennedy Meadows take the trail to the Relief Reservoir. The trail from the resort is really a road, an unpaved road. It is a very sandy road full of horse and mule shit. Not a pleasant experience at all. You'll pass two bridges (one after about 25 minutes, the other one ten minutes later). Eventually the road becomes a real trail, but horse shit will haunt you all the way. This also means that all the water around there is contaminated. I wouldn't drink it no matter what filter you are using. After about one hour, you reach a fork and continue straight south for the reservoir (do not take the left towards Kennedy Lake). You will not see the Relief Reservoir until you are at the top of the hill: then you realize that you are about halfway coasting the lake. This is about 1.5 hours into the hike. The lake is 2 kms long, so it takes you another 15 minutes to reach the southern tip. Again, you are never coasting the lake: the trail stays much higher. From the southern tip of the lake it's about 2kms or 30 minutes to the fork for Relief Valley. Don't miss this fork (N38.25275/W119.72960) or you may end up in Relief Valley. Turn left/south towards Lunch Meadow. The next step is to decide where to leave the trail and head towards Sardella Lake (N38.22325/W119.73407). After 1.5 kms you reach an opening at N38.23459 W119.72118 that has no marker but you can see a few "site restoration" signs as well as signs telling you not to camp near the water. Around here there are several spots where you can more or less easily cross the creek. Jump across and head up the granite walls. You'll have to cross another creek (a tributary). You can aim for Sardella Lake or simply head up the ridge. The ridge looks scary high, but unfortunately you need to climb it, one way or another: Sardella Lake is right behind it. You will also see the Lewis Lakes (lower and upper). The real summit of Granite Dome is never visible. Cross to the other side of Sardella Lake or upper Lewis Lake and climb to the plateau. Most likely you'll have to avoid steep snow fields. The only safe way to avoid them is to hike all the way to the left (south) of the upper Lewis Lake. Above the snow fields, you reach a plateau. You have to walk all the way north to find Granite Dome. You'll pass a false summit topped by trees. Granite Dome is probably not what you imagine. It's loose scree and resembles the colorful structures of Utah/Arizona. Once you get to this structure, you'll see that it has many peaks, each one with its own view. The real summit of Granite Dome is at N38.21538/W119.74524 (the western one) There are intimidating ranges all around Granite Dome if you don't follow this route.

    • Kennedy Meadows (1900m)
    • Kennedy Lake fork: 1h
    • Views of the reservoir (6 kms): 1h 30'
    • Relief Valley/ Lunch Meadow fork (9 kms): 2h15'
    • Sauceer Meadow (14 kms): 3h15'
    • Sardella Lake (16 kms): 6h
    • Plateau (17 kms): 8h (after many detours to avoid snow)
    • False summit with trees: 8h20'
    • Real summit (18 kms): 8h30'

Campgrounds between Kennedy Meadows and Sonora Pass: